To Become
by MandarinBlues
Summary: An alternate version of The Queen that explores Teyla's POV.
1. Chapter 1

This is an alternate version of the episode _"The Queen_." The Primary and her Commander dies just like in the original episode, but John and the others never come to rescue Teyla.

Constructive criticism is welcome. If I have made any mistakes or continuity errors, you can politely point them out to me.

I do not own SGA or its character's…unfortunately.

()()()()()()()()()

_Ice. A frigid block of ice in the pit of her stomach._

_An icy darkness that stretches to the depths of her soul._

That is how Teyla felt when she sensed the presence of the wraith. She did not know if the sordid feeling came from any actual evil from the wraith, or just her unconscious bias against them, but the feeling was horrible just the same.

It made her feel helpless. Only a handful of Athosians could empathize with her gift, so she didn't have many people to talk with about it. One person she could talk to in particular about this was Nalan. She was a childhood friend who had inherited the same gifts, albeit in a much more diminished form. Nalan was the ideal Athosian woman with her bravery and determination. She was the one Teyla would look up to, and was often the source of strength for Teyla after her father's untimely death.

"My Queen, I hope your new quarters are to your liking?"

The voice of the wraith that Sheppard had named "Todd" interrupted Teyla from her reverie. She had not noticed him coming into the room. She had been sitting on her throne with her back slightly slouched for the past couple of minutes, staring into empty space in the darkness of the warm room, waiting for her commander to return by her side. The only other companion she had was the reddish light that partially lit the room. To be frank, she was afraid to leave her throne. Outside of those webbed doors was a world foreign to her. Many wraith and drones would be walking around; carrying on with their business in their busy wraith lives. Without Todd by her side to guide her, she may end up doing something unwise. It was best to stay put and wait for his guidance. Never before had she felt so _vulnerable_.

"They will do, for now." Teyla had made sure to add the attitude at the end of the sentence. "_Remember, show strength, not weakness. The wraith are arrogant, authoritative, and unforgiving. Have a commanding presence. Lead_." She thought.

It had been only a couple of hours since "she_"_ had killed the Primary. The events afterward were so unexpected. She was supposed to talk to the Primary and leave, not rule over the enemies of her people! After officially becoming the Queen, Todd told her that it would be best for her to stay in her rooms and near her throne to allow her new subjects to feel her presence, maybe walk around in the halls outside if she was comfortable with it, but to stay near the throne a majority of the time. It was supposed to show the crew her authority. While she did that, he would around the hive to see if his plan had fooled the majority of the wraith aboard the hive. Which it did.

"Ah, then all is well" Todd growls as he walks toward his queen, the bottom of his heavy coat flapping behind him. "I hope you understand that this may…_will_ take a while. It is not every day that a hive acquires a new queen. There are several essential steps needed to take in order to ingrain a queen into a hive, or an alliance of hives for that matter." The knowing smirk on Todd's face made Teyla feel ill. She wanted to go home to Kanaan, to her little Torren, and to her friends on Atlantis. Never in her life could she believe that she would actually miss the whining of Rodney, of all people! But, she knew that while her soul longed to leave, she had to finish this charade for the sake of the inhabitants of her galaxy. She looked up to her commander, staring him in the eyes.

"You said that this would not take long. That I would be able to leave once the others bought this. It has been hours. I feel that _that_ should be an approp…"

"Do not worry." Todd walked off to the side of the throne, slightly worried at Teyla's agitation. "Everything is going according to plan. You will just have to…stay for a couple of…days and,"

"DAYS!" Teyla's eyes burst wide in surprise at his statement. Her mouth dropped in shock as she struggled to draw strength to talk. _How could he?_ "You said it would not take long. That…is a very long time. This is not what I agreed to. I don't know how long I can keep this up. I saw one of the scientists gazing at me earlier and…"

"My _Queen_! Remember what I told you about keeping up the morale. About keeping up appearances. If you want to live, I highly suggest that you stay. Leaving so soon _will_ arouse suspicion of _this_. Besides, a mere couple of days are nothing to wraith. Time is not as sacred to us as it is to other species. Just do as I say and everything will be fine." Todd feigned shock as his words dripped with accusations of Teyla being shady by going back on the agreement.

Teyla could feel panic begin to overflow her, but she squelched it down for fear of death. She _could_ do this. She _would_ do this. And she would make a splendid and most wondrous queen. She would not let her people down. Besides, maybe her commander was somewhat trustful. After all, he did get her thisfar. She tried to control herself, but the fear was overwhelming. Getting up from her throne and walking towards Todd, she tilts her head to him and whispers frantically.

"Very well, commander. But that scientist! I fear he suspects! He seems to be around every corner, hiding in every crevice. He may ruin it."

"Do not worry, my queen" Todd slips out, standing tall with a proud look upon his face. "I have _everything _under control. Just relax."

()()()()()()()()()()()

Two days had passed, and was Teyla was beginning to feel more confident in her abilities to fool the crew. She walked with her head up high; smirking slightly at the sight of the wraith bowing their heads and lowering their eyes when in her presence. It was their actions that fueled her confidence. It made her feel powerful and respected; someone who was to be feared and admired at the same time. Like an alpha female. These certainly could not be the same wraith that she had nightmares of during childhood!

With her absence, Colonel Sheppard had, of course, been upset with Todd about the whole ordeal. She learned of how they reacted when they heard that she would be staying for a bit longer. McKay was anxious as usual while Colonel Sheppard and Ronon threatened the second-in-command constantly. Apparently, they had decided to stay aboard Todd's original hive, just to watch and make sure there was no funny business going on. It made her feel well that her friends were so concerned for her well-being.

Wraith beds were not to her liking, at least the one that was for her. It was too soft and felt very, squishy, as if some sort of gel were inside. She had been resting on it for a couple of minutes, pondering over the events that had occurred over the past couple of days, when she felt the sudden need to return to her throne, quickly. With the limited abilities of the wraith genes in her DNA, she was able to sense the emotions and needs of the hive, especially since she had been practicing and strengthening her gift after that one incident where that queen almost killed her poor Torren. With this strength, she could function like a normal queen and sense the crew reach out to her, to _feel _her. They would do this every so often, gently tugging at her mind and consciousness. At first it frightened her, but soon ignored the odd feeling as her commander assured her that she would be safe and that they would not dare do anything more. She chalked it to their need to have a queen on the hive. The old one was gone and taken from them so abruptly, so they would reach out to her just to check to see if she was there. To feel as if she were _real. _To show her that they belonged to _her_.

She could now feel the pure passion of urgency. She was being called. The force pulled and ached at her mind. Heels clicking on the hard floor, she glides over to her throne and sits with confidence.

"Come"

Her commander walks into the room, this time with a fellow wraith. This one is a bit shorter than the commander, and does not bear any facial markings as Teyla can discern, but his hair is long and brushed back into a sloppy ponytail. He stops a couple of feet and bows to Teyla. Todd straightens his posture as he speaks. "My queen, this is one of the top scientists aboard this vessel. He has done extensive work on the virus created by the rogue."

Teyla frowns and suddenly feels a lump in her throat. "Oh?" The Primary had apparently ordered her scientists to find a cure for the modified Hoffan virus, or at least to find a way to give the wraith immunity against it. It didn't surprise her that there was some wraith working with it; it just shocked her that she would be dealing with the situation face-to-face. Her job here was to spread Keller's gene therapy, not to help them feed on more people. Still, she had to continue. Maybe he did not find much progress. "So, just what did you find? I hope you have had progress with counteracting this." Leaning forward she hisses at him in warning. "I _really_ hope you have."

The startled scientist pulls up his tablet and begins scrutinizing the information it contained. Going by his actions, he must have been young.

"Ah, yes, my queen. I have had success at first, but it seems there have been many setbacks. At first the obvious solution was just to remove certain proteins and rearrange the bonds some polypeptides, but…as I said before, there is more work to be done." The scientist said before Teyla cut in.

"I am pleased. Continue your work. I want the solution to this abhorrence found." Teyla breathed out. This was very upsetting. If that scientist was close to a breakthrough, it would mess up everything! "Now, leave us." She nodded her head away from him, signifying that she wanted nothing more to do with him at the moment. She continued to watch him walk away until she was sure he was far away after he left the room. Todd had the nerve to look surprised when Teyla slowly rolled her eyes in his direction.

"You continue to lie and deceive, time and time again, I see."

Todd shrugged his shoulders. "I would never dare to deceive you, my queen. Many hives are out to do the same. Just because he has managed to gain a better understanding of the virus does not mean that he is closer to neutralizing it. I am _sure_ Doctor Keller is more advanced in finishing her work that he is to his. Besides, I currently am in no position to rescind the agreement that I have made with the Lanteans."

His toothy grin looked sincere enough, but Teyla knew better than to trust a wraith, even if he had proved a little trustworthy in the past. "Fine" She threw one hand up, secretly wishing to smack her commander than the air. "I pray to the ancestors that I am not in a situation where he actually finds a way to undo it." _I would be chased_ _from Lantea! Or even worse, I would be disowned by my people_. _I would have to tell them of my involvement, then. My child will grow without knowing his mother. He would be known as the son of the Traitor. _Teyla grimaced as she thought of the consequences that that action may hold.

Her commander just grinned and let out an indifferent "hm". He didn't seem to actually care about her personal issues. He probably would not care if she were to die on the spot once she stepped foot back on Atlantis. Perhaps it was just a gesture that he had learned from humans, to smile and act alert even if you are not interested in the conversation you are having with another person. He may have not been interested in her anxiousness, but he still loved to irk her.

He glanced behind him, looking towards the entrance. Teyla was about to ask him what troubled him, but he turned and left. She soon would get her answer. A female worshipper rushed in the room with her head down and kneeled at the throne.

"My Queen." The worshipper whispered as she bowed low in front of Teyla before.

Teyla resisted the urge to show surprise in front of her new guest. The woman was very young, probably in her early twenties. She wondered what could have persuaded someone like her to become a worshipper, unless she was forced into servitude.

It was quite odd having another human being wait on you and worship you as a true queen.


	2. Chapter 2

This is the second chapter, I'm sorry it took so long to finish. Constructive criticism is welcome and if I made any errors you are welcome to politely tell me and I will correct them.

Thanks to all who reviewed. The reviews made me so happy so I hurried up to make this next chapter so I would not keep you waiting. And thanks to my beta reader, masterling! I am grateful that she takes time out of her busy schedule to help me!

I do not own SGA or its characters.

()()()()()()()()()

The wraith second-in-command, dubbed "Kenny" by John Sheppard, snorted as McKay added more packets sugar and Irish crème to his coffee. The human seemed oddly obsessed with the strongly scented liquid, almost to the point of insanity. He and the other humans insisted that he stop the hive by the nearest "stargate" in order for them to obtain more of it from Atlantis. This coffee substance could not have been that good.

"Human, the substance that you are drinking smells horrid" Kenny stated as matter-of-factly. McKay, who was watching the screen of a console that a drone was attending to, turned sharply around at the wraith.

"Wait? What? Are you talking about my coffee?" He hoped that Kenny was not.

"Yes, human, your coffee. Stop bringing it onboard my ship. It aggravates my sinuses." Kenny shot back at the unsuspecting man. Standing behind the central controls, he glared at McKay as if he were the epitome of idiocy.

McKay fumbled with the thermos in his hand, looking back and forth between it and Kenny with uncertainty. Why did this wraith hate him so much? "Look, I'm sorry. But I need this to stay awake. It helps…"

"If you wish to see the human female again, I suggest you keep it on Atlantis."

Sheppard had enough of their arguments. They had been going on like this for hours. Kenny would start crap up with McKay, while McKay would start crap up with Kenny minutes later. He was highly pissed when he found out that Todd had forgotten to mention that Teyla would have to stay on the hive for a couple of days. He had a suspicion that Todd was the spokeswraith for doublespeak and half-lies. He had been worried when the hive Teyla was on high tailed it out of the area and was about to rescue her from any danger she might have been in. But right before Kenny was about to send the ship into hyperspace after tracing the hive's coordinates, Todd sent a message to them via a secret frequency. Apparently, the queen and her commander were somehow dead (Todd would not elaborate on _how_), but now Teyla was the uber-queen of the alliance and ruled the hive. He instructed Kenny to have the two hives rendezvous near a planet with a stargate in ten days. After this, John had teams of soldiers from Atlantis come in and out of the hive on alternating schedules to make sure Kenny would not run off.

"Okay, okay. Look Kenny. You know, you look like a Kenny. Anyways Kenny, it is just coffee and coffee is an integral part of our culture. If you insult the coffee, you are insulting all of us huma…well, _Lanteans_, and I am sure that you don't want to do that, now would you? Here, why don't you try some? I heard this frappucino macchiato was the best back on my planet." John tipped his own thermos at Kenny.

"Ugh. John! It's Folder's and frappucinos are a Starbucks type. Look, stop sucking up to him and tell him that we want Teyla back and alive, now!" McKay grumpily walked out of the control room and into the hallway where Ronon stood, glaring at every wraith that walked by. "Oh, and John, you better believe that Kanaan and the Athosians will be suspicious if she doesn't say 'hi' to them soon."

Sheppard just sighed and lazily walked a bit towards Kenny, who was eyeing him suspiciously. "You know, he is right. We will need her back on Atlantis sooner or later."

Kenny was growing tired of the humans. "I have already told you. We can't go after her now. It will arouse suspicion. We have to plot a course that will gradually lead us to the projected meeting point with the commander in two weeks. If we follow them now, they will die."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Dieing? Just for rescuing her from a hive of life-sucking wraith? No offense."

"It is what the commander wishes. Be sure, she is safe."

"Yeah, I will have to…think this over with my men."

()()()()()()()()

It was the fourth day, and nothing uneventful had occurred on the hive. Teyla questioned Todd about the scientist and his research again. As expected, he quickly changed the subject and reminded her about meeting her new commanders on the ship. Hopefully, they would not question the death of the original commander or the Primary.

"_Maybe I will just tell them that he was being overly "fresh" with me, as John calls it. Hm, no…that will not work. I doubt a commander_ _would do that to a queen_." Teyla thought as she washed her face in the basin full of water in her bathing room. It was a reasonably sized room, and decorated differently than the rest of the hive, just like her other private rooms. The throne room had the same fleshy pink webs on the wall as the rest of the hive, but there were also large columns and pieces of "art" here and there. Teyla was amazed that the wraith even had the concept of art in their culture. The frequent similarities between humans and wraith were beginning to unnerve her.

After drying her face with the soft, dark purple clothe provided for her, she proceeded to dry her hands, seeing something unexpected while she did so. She should have been afraid, she _knew_ she should have been, but she felt something else. Something new. She felt complete and utter hatred. She wanted Todd. She wanted to tear out his heart and have his blood drip from her hands and down her arm. She could hardly think straight.

"Where is my commander!" Teyla screamed while she threw the basin to the floor, breaking it into tiny pieces. It was the most horrid and unladylike thing to do, but she did not care. Her rage had to be sated. Her rage, and honor, and needs were the _only_ important thing on the hive.

"_WHERE IS MY COMMANDER!_" This time she screamed telepathically at him and the rest of the crew. Teyla stormed out of her bathing room and into her resting room. She had been surprised that queens had them when she first entered the hive, but it was there. It was a luxurious room filled with comfy furniture, fruits and nuts, and anything else that would help a queen unwind after a busy day. She popped a juicy blue berry in her mouth. As Todd jogged into the room with actual sincere worry in his eyes, all Teyla could see was red. He was going to pay dearly for what he had done.

"My queen, what is the matter? I came a soon as I heard your command." He bowed extra deeply towards the woman.

Teyla snapped. "Do NOT try to play and pretend that you do NOT know what is going on!" She turned her right hand over so that he could see her palm. "What is this? Why is this here? And don't you dare lie, you know how I feel about your deceptions!"

Todd's face dropped as he eyed his queen carefully. He knew something was wrong. He then saw something that he did not expect. "My queen, it is a feeding slit. All wraith have it. It allows us to feed off of our human herd."

Eyes widening, she rushes over to her commander and grabs him by the neck. He instinctively lowers himself on one knee to show his submission to her. It is a humbling gesture that is used by wraith to calm the queen somewhat. It usually works, most of the time. Apparently, not for Teyla.

"Do you think of me as a fool? Your queen? I know exactly what it is! Tell me how did it appear. It was not on my palm before. Not before the procedure, not immediately after the procedure, and not after I arrived shortly on this hive. Just in between now and last night. Tell me, how did it appear?" She hissed at him in warning. "I am growing impatient with you."

"My queen, it is a side effect of the procedure. As you know, Doctor Keller didn't just use pure surgery on you. That would _never_ work. You see, we had to use gene therapy to make sure that this ruse would be successful. It is kind of like the retrovirus used on the one you call Michael, except that it is more advanced and has the opposite effect. It will not turn you into a true wraith, it will just enhances the wraith genes that you already possess." Todd blurts out as Teyla pull back her right hand in the air, as if she is about to feed on his life force.

"It is probably just a superficial side effect. I may not even be real, let alone _functioning_! You will still be able to eat human foods. There is plenty onboard the hive from the worshippers. Also, many higher ranking wraith and queens eat and drink, foods familiar to your species, for pleasure, so it will not seem out of the ordinary. Not at all!" Todd tried to reason with her, but her anger would not subside.

As he looked at her dilated pupils, he gasped. This was not the same human woman whom he asked to play this role. He decided to throw all formalities aside. There were no other wraith around who would hear them.

"Teyla! Teyla!" Todd yelled.

Teyla visibly shook at hearing her name. All she could do was stare at the wraith under her grasp. He stared back at her and seemed…anxious. It took her a while to put two and two together, thinking wraith, then commander, then, Todd! "_Oh, by the ancestors! What am I doing?_" She thought.

She hurriedly let go of him and held her hands together. Turning her back to him, she whispered an apology. What had come over her? Why hadn't she been herself? She opened her hands and looked at the feeding slit. Had she wanted to feed on Todd? She couldn't remember. She certainly did not feel the need to eat, so maybe it was just a reflex.

"Commander I, I do not know what happened. As I have said earlier, I am sorry. It was all so sudden. I…" At a lost for words, she buried her face in her hands.

"It is all right my queen. Even if you would have tried, feeding on me would not have worked. It was only a minor enhancement of your DNA. It may have been enough to give you certain wraith…reflexes. It would not change anything else." Todd lied. He could not tell her the truth though, at least not yet. He had suspected that something like this may occur, but the simulations that he ran made the possibility seem negligible. By this rate, it seemed she would become more wraith-like every day!

"Forget about it, there are more important things that you need to be concerned with." Todd mumbled, knowing how Teyla's reaction would be.

Teyla swiftly turned to look at Todd. "And what kind of 'things' would this be?" She asked innocently, knowing that it had to be something awful seeing how Todd looked as if he wanted to avoid the topic.

"It is custom among this hive to have a culling in celebration of a new Queen." Todd said as he looked past her. Teyla could not believe it. She had to initiate a culling? Of her own kind?

"No! I will do no such thing! It is terrible…just tell them that I am busy and need to tend to other things." She wanted to get out of this situation badly.

"You can't do that my queen." Todd remarked. "If you disregard the custom, you will be looked upon as suspicious. Random crewmembers will come at you to test your strength, and one may find out about your humanity in the process."

She couldn't do this. Hundred, maybe thousands, of people would die, and it would be her fault. She could not condemn them to this death.

"Commander, why did you not tell me of this beforehand?" She wanted, needed, to know if this was his plan all along; to turn her into a monster and murderer.

The commander could read some of her thoughts with the enhancement of her DNA, and with her mental barriers down.

"I am sorry, my queen, but…I did not know of this. The specifics of culture and custom vary from hive to hive, just as it does from different societies on the many planets in this galaxy that humans inhabit."

Quickly glancing down at his queen's newly developed feeding hand, he added "It will not be expected for you to give the orders to cull yet. It will have to be tomorrow. We are about one day away from the nearest human inhabited planet."

Todd was a curious wraith, and sometimes, that curiosity put him in the face of danger. He never expected the little human to develop such extreme wraith characteristics from the gene therapy. He and Doctor Keller only wanted to change her appearance, her scent, just the basics. Although this new development was unexpected, he could not end his plan here just for the sake of her. If this woman developed a feeding slit, a fully functional feeding slit, she would have to deal with hunger soon. The hunger, feeding, death, and satisfaction: just like he does.

Oh, he could not wait to see where this was heading. If she would begin to feed, he would satisfy his own scientific curiosity and would not be blamed wholly for it by the Lanteans. Also, he could find a way to use her to cement his spot in the alliance better that he was doing now. He wouldn't have to dodge around and tell his subordinates the Queen's orders. He wouldn't have to fight back those who were beginning to become suspicious of his activities. He would now have a Queen to back up his own authority.


End file.
